A few weeks ago, my wife and I had a chance to spend a couple of evenings at White Sands National Park. I had never been but had seen many photos. This is certainly one of the most unique places on earth I have ever experienced. If you’ve never been, I’d highly recommend a trip. We had read (confirmed on-site) that you have to walk a ways to get away from footprints if you want photos of the natural patterns in the sand. We didn’t walk very far the first day because we didn’t have much time to take photos after arriving at the park. After walking over just a couple of dunes, we found some areas with fewer footprints and I started experimenting.
The second day, we went back but instead of walking a short ways north, we walked much further to the south of the road. White Sands has only a single road. Running east to west, it’s a few miles long and has a small loop at the end. Most people enjoy taking picnics, chairs, or sleds. There were many people both nights who had established temporary ownership of a dune for the evening to watch the sun set behind the nearby San Andres Mountains.
In my two evenings there, I managed to capture some abstract photos. This style is very different from what I usually shoot for (pun intended) but the gradients that the light made as it flowed down or around the dunes were so interesting and smooth. I couldn’t pass them up. For that reason the format of this post differs from the norm. Enjoy the photos below!
